Editorial Policies

GENERAL

Ecology, Economy and Society ― the INSEE Journal (EES) is the official journal of the Indian Society of Ecological Economics (INSEE). Its registered office is c/o Institute of Economic Growth, University Enclave, North Campus, Delhi 110007, India. EES follows the internationally accepted guidelines and practices that include the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Editors and the Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers recommended by the relevant bodies.

All manuscripts submitted to the EES are reviewed by the Editors, Associate Editors or the external reviewers. Manuscripts submitted to the journal are expected to follow all the Guidelines. The author/s is/are solely responsible for the contents in their submission and must be in a position to defend them, if necessary. Manuscripts not following the Guidelines are liable to be rejected or sent back to the authors for revision. Manuscripts accepted for publication may undergo changes in style, format and language as warranted by copy editing, typesetting and printing requirements.

EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE

EES follows the best practices as listed by the internationally accepted guidelines. EES is governed by its Advisory Board based on Rules and Regulations approved by INSEE General Body. The Advisory Board selects the Editors and frames the policy to be followed by EES. These Rules and Regulations ensure complete independence of EES from the INSEE’s Executive Committee pertaining to its policies, practices, contents and day to day functions. The EC appoints the Managing Editor.

EDITORIAL REVIEW PROCESS

Only electronic submissions are accepted by EES (through Submission portal). All subsequent communications are carried through OJS platform. Submissions are checked for their adherence to the Guidelines and Style-sheet. All submissions are checked for similarities with existing works using software. Review process starts with the Similarity report. Unless the similarity percentages (total as well as with individual sources) are less than the threshold value, it is not taken to the next stage.

Research Papers and Thematic Essays are reviewed by the Editors, and with assistance of Associate Editors the refereeing process is undertaken to arrive at a decision. Once assigned, the designated Editor/Associate Editor takes a decision on whether the paper is to be sent for review or not (i.e. 'desk rejection'). In case of review, s/he identifies at least three reviewers from the list of experts. As per current practice,  the reviewers are rotated to ensure that no reviewer has to advise on more than two papers per year. In case of desk rejection, the decision is communicated with general comments on the shortcomings and/or scope for improvement. This category of submission is reviewed in a double-blind process, i.e. the identity of author is not known to the reviewer and vice-versa.

Submissions made in the following Sections are reviewed by the respective Section Editors (usually Associate Editors): Book Review, Notes from the Field and Reports. This category of submissions are reviewed in a single-blindfolded fashion, i.e. the identity of the author is known to the reviewer but not vice versa.

Submissions in the following Sections are invited by the Editors: Commentary and Conversations. Editors either designate (usually) one of the Associate Editors or choose one among themselves to undertake the review. This category of submissions are reviewed in a single-blindfolded fashion, i.e. the identity of the author is known to the reviewer but not vice versa.

All communications between the authors and the reviewers, in all Sections, are carried through OJS platform.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

(i) Editors and Associate Editors excuse themselves from being involved in any manner with such research papers which are :

(a) authored by current colleagues as well as graduate students at the same institution as authors.

(b) authored by co-authors of previously published papers (two years from the date of submission).

(c) authored by students they taught and/or supervised in the previous three years from the date of submission.

(d) (even if partly) originates from a student’s dissertation or thesis or project or term paper or other such that was prepared under his/her supervision.

(e) authored by a family member.

(ii) Editors and Associate Editors must disclose any other close personal or professional relationship with the author(s) of a paper assigned to/placed before her/him for decision of any kind including and not limited to co-author of a current project, former student that s/he is still close to and/or her/his advisee or referee, which, in their opinion, may create a conflict.

(iii) Papers with such conflicts as mentioned above are handled by the Editors with appropriate procedures for confidentiality of refereeing. Papers submitted by an Editor/Associate Editor are handled by one of the Editors/Associate Editors with appropriate confidentiality procedures.

COMMENTS on RESEARCH PAPERS

Comments to papers published in EES are reviewed by the concerned Editor/Associate Editor who reviewed the original submission. Ordinarily, it is sent to the author of the paper being commented on and Replies are sought. There is no automatic right to publish a Reply; the author of a Reply must provide substantive and material discussion of the issues in question. Author may opt not to Reply. These are also reviewed by the concerned Editor/Associate Editor. Comments and Replies, if any, are published together under the heading of Discussion.

Editorial Standards

The Journal shall be as much inclusive as possible in terms of welcoming and considering submissions in both pure theory and applications, irrespective of the disciplinary lens and method. Papers with empirical or experimental content are considered, though such a paper must contain a substantial and innovative theoretical component to be considered for publication.

Turnaround Time

EES aims to turn around papers as quickly as is consistent with a thorough evaluation of their scientific contribution. It aims to adhere to the following standards for turnaround time.

• From submission by author as per guidelines to communication of the decision to the author: 14 weeks.

Periodicity

The journal to start with, will be published two times a year, preferably in January and July.

Final version of the accepted papers (after copy edited) will be published on the website in the order of receipt of the accepted versions. Hard copy versions will be published subsequently as per the periodicity.